There’s an attraction I have to skulls... So much so that I have a skull on my kitchen counter all year long and amongst the stack of Marinella jewelry ‘Protection Bracelets’ I wear one most always has a skull charm dangling.

I enjoy how the skulls large eye sockets gaze at me from its bony structure, how the bracelets feel and the sound the skull charm makes as it jangles against my other bracelets. There is something cool and composed or should I say ‘decompose’ about a skull that fascinates me.

Some may say this is morbid but I am not the only one who identifies with the possible power in the skull symbol. Throughout history the skull has embodied both sides of the spectrum and has held various meaning to different people.

Society largely associates skulls with death, evil, symbols for poison or a flag on a pirate’s ship. However, to some ancient societies it’s believed to have had the opposite association, where objects like crystal skulls represent "life"; much like the present-day Mexican celebration ‘Dia de los Muertos’ ~ ‘Day of the Dead’ ~ used to honor the lives of those who have gone before us.

There is a mindfulness of our own mortality and wasted wistfulness of immortality which highlights for me the importance of living in the moment…